One of our favorite shows from the 2009 London Design Festival was Corn Craft, a beautiful showcase of sustainable materials hosted by Gallery FUMI and Studio Toogood. Held in Gallery’s FUMI’s personal live/ work space on Hoxton Square, the exhibition hit all the right notes with tactile, emotional art-design pieces by Max Lamb & Gemma Holt, Nacho Carbonell (above) and Raw-Edges Design Studio.

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Post tags: green design, green furniture, industrial design, London Design Festival 2009, Products, Recycled Materials, sustainable design

The London Design Festival is in full swing, and Inhabitat has been on the scene to give you the scoop on the dazzling examples of sustainable design presented at this year’s event. Read on for our favorite products and innovations that we spotted this year.

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Post tags: "lighting design", art installation london, eco-art, eco-friendly products, green design, industrial design, London Design Festival 2009, London Design Week, sustainable design, sustainable industrial design

London-born designer Tom Price was commissioned by Arts Co. to produce a piece of work for ‘From Now to Eternity’, an exhibition celebrating design, and focusing on plastic as a versatile material. Addressing concerns over our increasing piles of wasted throw-away plastic products, he chose to create an ingenious series of chairs formed by strategically melting piles of polyester fleece.

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Post tags: arts co, Chair, fleece fur, from now to eternity, green design, green furniture, London Design Festival, plastic chair, Recycled Materials, sustainable design, tom price

WEmake‘s beautiful Beryl and Friends lamps are composed from cast-off bases and lampshades that have fallen out of favor. The designers carefully refinish each component and then recombine them to eclectic effect, re-wiring and re-stocking them with low energy bulbs. Beryl and Friends were included in (re)design‘s ‘Lighten up‘ exhibition at 100% Design at this year’s London Design Festival.

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Post tags: beryl & friends, energy efficient lighting, lamp shades, Reclaimed Materials, recycled lamp, refurbished lamps, wemake

The world’s very first Sustainable Dance Club recently let partygoers loose on its energy-generating dance floor to the sound of Iggy Pop & The Stooges! Originally rumored to be opened by Amy Winehouse, club Watt, features a LED-laden dance floor that is lit up solely by the kinetic energy generated by dancers. The new nightclub will also feature a variety of efficiency standards established by the Sustainable Dance Club group that allow it to save 30% on energy consumption, 50% on water use, cut CO2 emissions by 30%, and reduce waste by 50%.

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Post tags: alternative energy, club watt, energy efficient lighting, kinetic energy dance floor, led dance floor, rotterdam, sustainable dance club, Waste reduction

Hulger‘s beautiful Plumen bulbs explore the possibilities of the energy-efficient CFL, reworking its staid form into fluid light sculptures that dare to be covered up or hidden from view. Named for the plume-like forms that spiral and descend from the light’s pendant fitting, these brilliant bulbs celebrate and encourage the use of CFLs. We caught sight of them at (re)design‘s Lighten Up exhibit at this year’s 100% Design.

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Post tags: compact fluorescent light bulb, energy efficient light bulb, green design, hulger cfl, hulger design, Lighten Up, London Design Festival, plumen cfl, sustainable design

One of the most stunning pieces at this year’s 100% Design was this gorgeous recycled plastic bottle chandelier by Michelle Brand. Composed entirely from cut-off bottle bases, it lit up the floor at (re)design‘s Lighten Up exhibition, which showcased a selection of innovative lighting designer-makers who are ‘switched-on’ when it comes to tackling domestic lighting design solutions.

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Post tags: 100% Design, cascade lancanshire, green design, Lighten Up, michelle brand, michelle brand plastic bottle chandelier, Recycled Materials, sustainable design

This year’s London Design Festival was an incredible event that showcased some of the world’s most acclaimed designers in addition to a host of upcoming talents. From innovative furnishings and lighting solutions to clothing and accessories, this year’s event featured a variety of cutting-edge concepts in sustainable design. Read on for our highlights from the event!

Read the rest of London Design Festival 2008: Inhabitat’s Highlights

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Post tags: eco-friendly materials, green design, industrial design, London Design Festival, sustainable design, sustainable furnishings, Sustainable Materials

We are excited to announce that one of our favorite contemporary furniture design teams, Molo, just launched a brand new fold-up paper lantern called ‘Urchin’. Molo’s Urchin Softlights are a series of gorgeous expandable lamps composed of flexible-yet-durable honeycomb craft paper. Urchin embodies Molo’s versatile design philosophy and is as adaptable as their paper walls or stacking blocks, allowing the user to lift or push the softlight into any desired position. Watch designer Stefanie Forsythe styling her Urchin softlights in a flash intro here.

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Post tags: 100% Design, energy efficient lighting, flatpack lamp, green design, molo design, molo light sculpture, molo urchin softlight, sustainable design

Raw and exposed with a distinct rural Romanticism, UllmayerSylvester Architects’ updated version of the terrace house, called the Whatcotts Yard or ‘In-between‘ project, is best known as an independent award-winning collaboration with Annalie Riches and Barti Garibaldo. The project, located in Whatcotts Yard, Stoke Newington won several awards  in 2004 for its unique and direct approach to building sustainable homes. Since then, Silvia Ullmayer and Allan Sylvester opened their practice and have since gone on to work on innovative projects such as The New Summerhouse and Minihome Nursery, both in Hackney, London.

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Post tags: annalie riches, barti garibaldo, in between homes, london homes, sustainable design, Sustainable Homes, terrace homes, terraced houses, ullmayer sylvester architects, whatcotts yard

We’re great fans of Ryan Frank‘s work here at Inhabitat, and we can’t wait to get a firsthand glimpse of his new stackable Isabella stools at this month’s fast-approaching London Design Festival! The Isabella stool provides eco-ergonomic seating in addition to a sculptural storage solution inspired by hand-carved African designs. Rather than using the exotic hardwoods featured in traditional African seating, the innovative designer chose to work with 100% felted wool and ‘strawboard’ – a sustainable, formaldehyde-free material made entirely from compressed straw.


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Post tags: "green furniture", eco-friendly design, eco-friendly seating, London Design Festival, Recycled Materials, ryan frank sustainable design, Ryan Frank’s Isabella Stool, straboard, sustainable design

Zurich-based Postfossil Design Collective has been capturing our imagination this year with a host of eco-minded ideas that challenge convention. Postfossil designer Annina Gaehwiler‘s Torre plant pot is one such example, and demonstrates a beautiful hands-on approach to plant-rearing. Individual earth filled units are attached to the base of the pot allowing seedlings to grow and flourish with freedom to stretch their roots.

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Post tags: eco-conscious design Milan, LED lighting Milan 2008, Milan Furniture Fair 2008, Postfossil Annina Gaehwiler Torre Plant Pot, Postfossil Design Collective Milan 2008, Postfossil Design Salone Satellite, Salone Satellite Milan 2008

With a design which would easily fit in a 1970′s Stanley Kubrick film, Postfossil‘s award winning First Light reading lamp is certainly cinematic. Powered entirely by a cog and wheel mechanism, the light remains lit once ‘wound’ by pulling the weighted cord. While the illumination relies on a relatively continuous input from the user, Postfossil’s Anna Blattert and Daniel Gafner have found a way to remind us of our energy consumption though the tried and tested method of action and reward.

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Post tags: cog and wheel lamps, eco-conscious design Milan, LED lighting Milan 2008, mechanical lamps, Milan Furniture Fair 2008, modern mechanical lamps, Postfossil Design Collective Milan 2008, Postfossil Design Salone Satellite, Postfossil First Light, Postfossil lamps, Salone Satellite Milan 2008

The re-branded London Festival of Architecture is now in its second week of it’s calendar of over 600 events. The Grow Bags: Urban Allotments installation, produced by What If Projects, showcases a ‘formerly inaccessible and run-down plot of housing estate land transformed into a beautiful oasis of green. Seventy 1/2 tonne bags of soil have been arranged to become a space for growing food, socializing, picnics and BBQs.’

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Post tags: Architecture at UEL Gareth Morris, Architecture at UEL Ulrike Steven, Gareth Morris, Grow Bags Urban Allotments, LFA 2008, London Festival of Architecture 2008, Ulrike Steven, What if Projects, What if Projects LFA 2008

Smooth, sleek, sharp, and made entirely from paper, Inga Sempé‘s Double Stray Lights for Artecnica, require no assembly and arrive flat packed. There’s not much we don’t love about these elegant paper lamps. Their ability to be so incredibly sophisticated, while retaining a tactile, vulnerable quality, has us absolutely captivated. Arriving compact, the Double Stray unfolds accordion-style to light up interiors with an intentional moiré pattern that gives both structure and ambiance.


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Post tags: Artecnica, Artecnica Milan 2008, Artecnica Milan furniture fair 2008, efficient lighting design, flatpack lighting, Inga Sempé, Inga Sempé Artecnica, Inga Sempé Double Stray light, Inga Sempé flatpack design, Inga Sempé lighting, Milan 2008, sustainable design

Zurich-based Postfossil Design Collective came together to create a platform for exploring how design can influence responsible, and adaptable behavior. Earlier this year, at Milan’s furniture fair, they excused themselves for ‘deviating’ from a focus on the use of sustainable materials and production methods, yet Postfossil presented an impressive eco-conscious collection at Salone Satellite. Their thought-provoking designs garnered the Design Report Award for unique ideas that challenge our post-fossil perception.

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Post tags: Design Report Award, ecolightinside, green furniture, Milan Furniture Fair, Postfossil Design Collective

The upcoming 2008 Olympic Games are inspiring some show-stopping buildings and technologies, among them the Greenpix Zero Energy Media Wall by New York based architecture & media firm Simone Giostra & Partners. Visible from up to a kilometer away on one of Beijing’s most congested main roads, the 20,000 square foot bright light facade of the Xicui entertainment complex is more than stunning, it’s surprisingly strong in its green credentials. The Greenpix Zero Energy Media Wall is the world’s largest color LED display, and has a self sustaining energy life-cycle. Harvesting sunlight collected during the day via photovoltaic solar cells, the wall uses stored solar energy to light up the LED’s for a spectacular nighttime show.

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Post tags: Beijing buildings, Greenpix Zero Energy Wall Beijing, media 2008 Olympic Games, Olympic Games 2008 Beijing, Simone Giostra & Partners Greenpix, Simone Giostra & Partners Zero Energy Wall, solar energy Beijing, solar energy China, Suntech China, Sunways solar energy, technology 2008 Olympic Games

WIS Design‘s Decades chest of drawers stopped us dead in our tracks at Salone Satellite. Dramatically positioned before a hot pink background, its combination of drawers were selectively rescued from local Stockholm flea markets. “Decades” was first launched at last year’s Casa Cor exhibition in Stockholm, where WIS Design are based and have a showroom. This is the first time the products have been shown at an international exhibition such as Salone Satellite and the debut made some seriously sustainable waves throughout Milan.

Read the rest of MILAN 2008: Reclaimed Furniture by WIS Design

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Post tags: Inhabitat Salone 2008, Milan Furniture Fair, Milan Italy 2008, Reclaimed Materials, salone internazionale del mobile, Salone Satellite Milan 2008, sustainable design Milan, WIS Design’s Decades Chest of Drawers, WIS Designs furniture

We are enchanted by Kelp Constructs, the new work from UK-based designer Julia Lohmann who has been experimenting with kelp, and exploring its potential as a sustainable material. Following an artistic residency at S-AIR in Sapporo Japan, Lohmann was in Milan this year conducting the Kelp Constructs workshop at the Nilufar Gallery. The final products, a collection of wonderfully tactile lighting designs, were on display during the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, bringing this rapidly renewable material into a new design realm.

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Post tags: 'Julia Lohmann, Julia Lohmann Cow Benches, Julia Lohmann Kelp Constructs, Julia Lohmann sustainable materials, renewable materials, sustainable design lamps, sustainable design lighting

Celebrated Dutch design collective Droog Design pushed green design ideas to the forefront this year with their ‘A Touch of Green’ presentation in Milan. Echoing this Inhabitant’s focus on the boundaries of sustainable design, Droog brought together a whole host of designers – some new, some familiar – to showcase a range of approaches in an effortlessly curated, but typically stylish show complete with a buzzing 48 hour shop. Among our favorites are Tejo Remy’s furniture made from collected components, SMAQ’s take on thermal comfort and Jens Praet’s functional, waste-diverting pieces, but the Droog show offered exciting new design perspectives at every turn. Read on for more highlights!

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Post tags: "sustainable furniture", A touch of green, cradle-to-cradle, Droog Design ‘A Touch of Green’, Droog Eco Design, Droog Green Design, dutch design, eco design, ecodesign, Furniture Fair, green design, green furniture design, Green Lighting, International Furniture Fair, italy, Jens Praet, Light Fixtures, Milan 2008, Milan Design Week 2008, Milan Furniture Fair 2008, Milane Salone de Mobile 2008, sustainable design, Tejo Remy